Anybody here own one or have owned one in the past? How are they? They are a little bit out of my price range but there is a nice used 2010 I found. Just curious as I don't have much experience with them.

Anybody here own one or have owned one in the past? How are they? They are a little bit out of my price range but there is a nice used 2010 I found. Just curious as I don't have much experience with them.

My wife felt it was too big for a daily -- I loved it and wished we still had it.. I'd average about 12mpg with a mix of city and fast freeway.. Think I touched 17 once or twice but that was rare.. in the winter doing 80 on the freeway I once got 10, without towing... Towed very well..

10?! Wow, that's crazy. I need to go test drive one as I've never actually been in one, but they look really nice. This would be for towing...kids and a boat. My wife was pretty set on an Expedition (in budget, folding 3rd row seat, etc.) but I just thought we would do some comparison shopping before pulling the trigger. I realize the two vehicles are in different leagues but so are their prices!

I own the Nissan version, the Armada, and love it. Gas mileage is better than with my previous Tahoe and towing is so much nicer. Wish I had the rear air suspension which would eliminate my only complaint which the rear end drops quite a bit when loaded. You won't be disappointed one bit. But be prepared to buy it if you drive it.

10?! Wow, that's crazy. I need to go test drive one as I've never actually been in one, but they look really nice. This would be for towing...kids and a boat. My wife was pretty set on an Expedition (in budget, folding 3rd row seat, etc.) but I just thought we would do some comparison shopping before pulling the trigger. I realize the two vehicles are in different leagues but so are their prices!

Just go drive an fully loaded Armada --- same vehicle, much cheaper..

You'll be thrilled with it.. Also - with my 10mpg - I had 22's on it and it was something like -5 degrees and windy.. Not normal conditions.

It's the PERFECT kid and boat hauler... It ****s on a Expo in every area, imo... Apples and oranges.

I own the Nissan version, the Armada, and love it. Gas mileage is better than with my previous Tahoe and towing is so much nicer. Wish I had the rear air suspension which would eliminate my only complaint which the rear end drops quite a bit when loaded. You won't be disappointed one bit. But be prepared to buy it if you drive it.

All of this.

Make sure you get the rear air ride.. Great feature for towing.. Armada LE, Limited or SV are plenty.. The value moving up to a QX56 is in the "bling" (more chrome, more exotic wood trim, etc)..

We went from a 02 Sequoia to a 05 QX56, it was night and day. Loved the power and the size every place but behind the third row. As kids started getting older and car pooling to travel soccer events this became a bigger deal. So now we have a 13 Suburban, but still miss the QX56. MPG will very on how you drive it, spent many miles over 80 mph on long road trips.

Love the QX but can't justify the extra cash. I do appreciate the comments though as the Armada is now in the running. Depending on the type of deal we would be looking at a Nissan Armada Platinum or a Ford Expedition Limited. I need to get in and drive both now that we are hopefully out of icemageddon in Dallas. The consensus seems to be the Armada but I've had good luck with my Expedition and really like the Limited versions...even though the ford dash and styling leaves a lot to be desired. I'm sure the Armada gas mileage can't be that much worse than the Expedition.

A suburban would be nice but we only have 2 kids and don't plan on using the 3rd row that much. We would the extra seats when the grandparents need to jump in, but I don't think the wife wants to drive/park the bigger vehicle when it will be her daily driver.

Love the QX but can't justify the extra cash. I do appreciate the comments though as the Armada is now in the running. Depending on the type of deal we would be looking at a Nissan Armada Platinum or a Ford Expedition Limited. I need to get in and drive both now that we are hopefully out of icemageddon in Dallas. The consensus seems to be the Armada but I've had good luck with my Expedition and really like the Limited versions...even though the ford dash and styling leaves a lot to be desired. I'm sure the Armada gas mileage can't be that much worse than the Expedition.

A suburban would be nice but we only have 2 kids and don't plan on using the 3rd row that much. We would the extra seats when the grandparents need to jump in, but I don't think the wife wants to drive/park the bigger vehicle when it will be her daily driver.

We looked at the same group.

Armada
Tahoe
Expo

The Expo was far behind the other two, in our opinion. It was a two horse race. It came down to value for us. We were able to purchase a similar year/mileage Armada with *more* options than the Tahoe for $8k less money. It was literally a no brainer. We had great lucky with ours over 40k miles - zero complaints. If you will use it to tow - the Armada will win that competition as well. One other thing we noticed was that the Armada "wore" nicer than the Tahoe as well. When you looked at a Tahoe with 80k miles - the seats were cracked/worn and carpets never looked new. We sold our Armada with 85k on it and it looked near new.

I hope you find what you are looking for - whatever that is. You can see where my opinion is but I'm one guy in a group. I'm not necessarily a Nissan guy -- but when comparing the same three vehicles head to head, the Armada was the clear winner for value/options/reliability.

If you are not towing - there are better values out there.. If you do not plan to tow and have two kids - the Traverse/Acadia/Outlook will offer more space in the back with 5ish more MPG. Similar results with a Honda Pilot (but for money money)..

we had a qx. It drank gas like nobody's business. Never ever got more than 12. In TX I think it would be a fantastic tow vehicle. We are at altitude, and the poor truck wouldn't perform to my expectations while towing over a 7000' pass regularly. Ended up selling and getting a 7.3 excursion.

I don't know when they switched their packages, but on some of the armadas, nissan did not equip them with the "tow package," even though they may have a trailer hitch. The tow package has air suspension, tranny cooler, and most importantly a lower final drive ratio. The non-tow package armadas have a substantially lower manufacturer's tow rating than the tow package version (a couple thousand pounds if memory serves).

Had we not moved from a 21' to a 23' boat, we'd still be driving ours.

You may also want to consider a Sequoia, 2009 and newer. With the 5.7L engine it tows great for us and on a mix of city/highway my wife gets 17.5MPG (we have gotten over 20MPG on non-towing highway trips). It is in the same price range as the Armada.

You may also want to consider a Sequoia, 2009 and newer. With the 5.7L engine it tows great for us and on a mix of city/highway my wife gets 17.5MPG (we have gotten over 20MPG on non-towing highway trips). It is in the same price range as the Armada.

Crazy.. We couldn't touch a similarly equipped/mileage ToySeq for anywhere close to the Armada.. This could be regional.. People have hard ons for Toyota here in Minneapolis.

We've been driving and towning with our 04 QX for about 5 years now. 3 friends up north ended up going with the Armada after seeing ours. They are perfect anti-minivan suvs we comfortably get 4 kids and 4 adults in there. Its my wifes daily driver but does get aweful mileage. Best towing SUV out there in my opinion. Its been great for us

I keep reading the bad gas mileage comments and maybe I have blurred vision when it comes to this. I came out of a Z71 Tahoe that averaged under 10 mpg daily driving and about 6 towing. Just checked my on board info station which I know is not perfect, but it's indicating 15.3 mpg and I calculated about 11 mpg this summer highway towing. For a gaser I don't think that is bad at all. Keep in mind the highway towing is from Dallas to Houston which nights have three hills between the two cities. I just don't think you can beast the Titan engine in a gaser.

Well I went and check out a Platinum Armada yesterday and that thing is sick! I really liked it and the Platinum styling seemed very nice. Lots of bells and whistles. I didn't get to drive it as we are solid ice all over Dallas but will go back this weekend. We weren't really into all the extras for the cost, but once you seem them all it's hard to not want them.

The automatic folding 3rd row is a non-negotiable for my wife (and me to a certain extent) so that's why these two (Expo) vehicles are at the top of the list. The gas mileage you guys talked about is a concern, but it's not like the Expedition is going to kill it in this department.

The only thing about the Platinums are that a lot of them have the console in the back making for bucket seats on the 2nd row. We've always enjoyed the bench allowing 3 people to sit across there, but I suppose we just have to find the right now. I think new these are mid 50's but we have seen some with 30-40K miles for upper 20's.

1. If I'm not mistaken, the Armada and QX56 share the same motor as the Titan, which has been notorious for having poorly built headers that WILL crack and fail, and lead to terrible gas mileage (even worse than they already get). There was a thread a while back where a member commented about his 2wd Titan only gettting 9-10 non-towing on the highway, when it is rated for much higher than that. That is one weak point to be aware of if buying used.

2. Don't even bother looking at the Expeditions. My parents have one (their 3rd one now) and they lose so much value so fast that it's not worth spending money on and the fit and finish of Ford's have always been disappointing in my book

3. Not sure how many Tahoes you looked at JD, but as for interior "quality" and "wear-ability", that just comes down to the owner. My wife has a 2010 Tahoe LT2 with 60,000 miles on it and it still looks brand new inside and out. The only problem that we've ever had with it was the dash split, which is apparently common in the Tahoes these days. Despite being out of warranty, the dealer fixed it for us for basically free. Just had to pay the labor which ended up being about $200. While we've never bothered towing our RZ4 monster with this vehicle, the smaller loads that have been towed with it have pulled fine and had no issues, and we consistently average about 17city and 19-20 mpg normally on the highway (usually around 75-80 mph), and about 15 highway when we towed with it. Ours has the captain's chairs 2nd row, with the folding 3rd row seats. I do wish the 3rd row was a "fold-away" instead just a flip up/removable, but they are super easy to take out and put in, even my wife can do it pretty easy.

4. The Nissan will be no worse than any other mid tier vehicle when it comes to repairs. Some parts will be cheap, some will be pricey, but labor is what usually kills you. The Infiniti on the other hand will be sky high in repairs despite being virtually the exact same vehicle.

5. Being a fellow DFW resident, I feel the urge to at least plug my dealer. We bought both her Tahoe and my Dodge 3500 from Moritz over on the 820 loop in West Ft. Worth and couldn't be happier with both the deals we got and the service we've received afterwards. They have other brand dealers all over the metro plex as well, and are willing to do most services at any of them despite not being the actually location you bought it at. I took her truck into the Moritz Cadillac/Mini/Fiat lot in North Arlington to get the tires warrantied last year since it was closer and had zero issues with them accepting it and doing the work. Plus we got fantastic deals on both of our trucks when we bought them. Her truck stickered for about $49k, we drove it off the lot with TTL included for $43k. My truck stickered for $59k, drove it off the lot with TTL for just under $47k.

Ryan makes a good point about the exhaust manifolds. Nissan has extended the warranty on them to 80k, so if you are looking at a truck with over that many miles and it hasn't had the new headers put on, plan on a couple grand before too long.

Disagree with Ryan regarding repair costs... but it all comes down to your dealer. Between my infiniti dealer and my nissan dealer, I'd choose the infiniti dealer every time.

Also disagree with comparing mileage between the Nissan and the 5.3 gm motors. The Nissan 5.6 has way more power and torque than the 5.3. You pay for that power at the pump, but it's nice to have if you need it (also remember that the Nissan/Infiniti takes premium).

Ryan makes a good point about the exhaust manifolds. Nissan has extended the warranty on them to 80k, so if you are looking at a truck with over that many miles and it hasn't had the new headers put on, plan on a couple grand before too long.

Disagree with Ryan regarding repair costs... but it all comes down to your dealer. Between my infiniti dealer and my nissan dealer, I'd choose the infiniti dealer every time.

Also disagree with comparing mileage between the Nissan and the 5.3 gm motors. The Nissan 5.6 has way more power and torque than the 5.3. You pay for that power at the pump, but it's nice to have if you need it (also remember that the Nissan/Infiniti takes premium).

Ryan makes a good point about the exhaust manifolds. Nissan has extended the warranty on them to 80k, so if you are looking at a truck with over that many miles and it hasn't had the new headers put on, plan on a couple grand before too long.

Disagree with Ryan regarding repair costs... but it all comes down to your dealer. Between my infiniti dealer and my nissan dealer, I'd choose the infiniti dealer every time.

Also disagree with comparing mileage between the Nissan and the 5.3 gm motors. The Nissan 5.6 has way more power and torque than the 5.3. You pay for that power at the pump, but it's nice to have if you need it (also remember that the Nissan/Infiniti takes premium).

I never compared the two motors, just stated that our 5.3 has never really been inadequate at towing anything that has needed towing, including our old 19' single axle bayliner. I have not, nor will I ever, attempt to tow my RZ4 with it though. The 5.3 is designed for moderate power and good mileage, whereas the 5.6 is designed for power, damn the mileage. They're both good at what they're designed for. The point that I was making with that section was that condition of the vehicle will vary based on the previous owner when buying used. I've seen some that only had 10,000 miles that were beat to ****, and others with 100,000 miles that still looked brand new. It has very little to do with the actual manufacturer as to how well a vehicle last cosmetically like JD was trying to say. Although I would expect that a vehicle that cost considerably more like the Infiniti to have a much better fit and finish than the Tahoe, it's not gonna make a difference if you don't take care of it.

The fit and finish difference between the infiniti and the nissan is negligible/nonexistent. If you want a big upgrade like you'd have buying the lexus version of a toyota, don't buy infiniti. At least on our 2006, the dash was super cheap plastic (and vast quantities of it) and they didn't really seem to do anything extra to make it "luxury." Bang for the buck is with the armada for sure. The QX is just a "loaded" armada, nothing more.

I had a 2006 Armada for 6 years - put 140K miles on it. I had the SE version - but it was loaded to the gills. All leather, sunroof, DVD, full tow package and rear air-ride suspension.

My thoughts . . . .

Like other full-size SUV's - great family truck - hauled my boats with no problem.

Both of my exhaust manifolds cracked. It was after the regular warranty period BUT - because the catalytic converters are part of the exhaust manifolds - Nissan had the replace them under the emissions warranty (80K miles in California).

Recalled for gas gauge failure (found this when I ran dry with a 1/4 tank reading on the gauge).

Truck died when main relay failed (also found this out 3 months before recall was issued).

Another problem with this truck is the front differential. Most folks ride it in AUTO (4wd). That means the front drive shaft is constantly spinning. In the older trucks (not sure what year they switched) - the front differential bearings were garbage. My bearings fried and you can't replace the bearings - it's cheaper to swap out for a brand spanking new front differential. (just google "armada front differential bearings")

The rear differential looks like it came off of a small dune buggy. I was sure I'd blow that thing up hauling my boat up into the Sierras - but it held up fine. Go figure.

Edit to my post above - apparently the Infiniti does require premium gas. It's got the same size motor (5.6) but has 80HP more, more torque, and a 7-speed transmission (Armada has a 5-speed).

Hold up your not looking at the same vehicle now. The Q in 2011 is whole new vehicle no longer based on the Titan. Pre 2011 the Q and the Armada where virtually the same vehicle except the Q requires premium and some fancy things here and there.

Hold up your not looking at the same vehicle now. The Q in 2011 is whole new vehicle no longer based on the Titan. Pre 2011 the Q and the Armada where virtually the same vehicle except the Q requires premium and some fancy things here and there.

The new Q is a sweet suv IMHO.

Well - I stand corrected. The Armada and Q used to share the same platform - and now, it looks like the Q is based on the Nissan Patrol (overseas) platform.

I work at a dealer that sells both. like said above the new qx is a all new beast. the armadas do still ahve the 5.6 and yes the manifolds, front diff and rear end could be a week point on the first couple years. I own a 05 qx and they still have the manifold problem but nissan has extended the warranty. in the qx the rear diff is independant so you dont have that to worry about that and we dont see many front diff problems with them. We really like the Qx, my wife has no trouble driving it even tho it is huge. when we got it there was also a 08 armada that had more opions than the qx we have but for some reason my wife liked the qx. witch was fine with me because the rea diffs in the armadas that year kinda scare me. Im sure eather way you go you will be happy.

The new QX is awesome as many have said. I've never driven the previous generation or the Armada, but from the looks it's identical to my dads Titan that he has and though powerful it is LOUD on the road as mentioned. My wife has a '13 Explorer, and barring that you are towing mainly with it, I can't imagine that the small room difference is worth the ride quality, gas savings, etc. but that's why there are options.

I'm surprised there are so many good words for the Armada. This platform will be 10 years old this year.

Well, I took my wife and test drove a 2012 Armada Platinum this weekend along with a 2012 Expedition Limited. I know the body style hasn't changed on either of these vehicles in many years, but the Armada did feel like it had more of an updated interior. There are several styling aspects inside the Expo that are the exact same as my 2000 Expedition.

I thought they both drove well but the Armada definitely felt more powerful and had much better acceleration. We liked the options much better than the Expedition as well as the location of those options. It just seemed more practical in the way a lot of the functions were designed. I can't speak to the headers or front differential but I'm glad you guys bring it up.

We are leaning towards the Armada due to the styling/power/layout but the gas mileage and the header/differential issues concern me. I guess there isn't going to be a perfect vehicle out there in this price range, but we are thinking the Armada is in the lead. Granted, I've owned an Expedition for the past 14 years and I'm kinda ready for a change.

There is going to be horror stories about any and every vehicle out there. I have put about 65,000 miles on my 2010 and have not had one single problem. I would not have any hesitations about the Armada. And I am not sure where the road noise issues mentioned above come from, ours rides great but I do keep good tires on it and rotate every oil change. My wife and I were talking again this weekend about how happy we are with our decision and will certainly get another one when it's time to replace.

Well, I took my wife and test drove a 2012 Armada Platinum this weekend along with a 2012 Expedition Limited. I know the body style hasn't changed on either of these vehicles in many years, but the Armada did feel like it had more of an updated interior. There are several styling aspects inside the Expo that are the exact same as my 2000 Expedition.

I thought they both drove well but the Armada definitely felt more powerful and had much better acceleration. We liked the options much better than the Expedition as well as the location of those options. It just seemed more practical in the way a lot of the functions were designed. I can't speak to the headers or front differential but I'm glad you guys bring it up.

We are leaning towards the Armada due to the styling/power/layout but the gas mileage and the header/differential issues concern me. I guess there isn't going to be a perfect vehicle out there in this price range, but we are thinking the Armada is in the lead. Granted, I've owned an Expedition for the past 14 years and I'm kinda ready for a change.

We agreed to all of those while shopping and felt the same about the Tahoe as a comparison.. We owned ours for 3 years, many miles and zero (literally zero) problems..

The new QX is awesome as many have said. I've never driven the previous generation or the Armada, but from the looks it's identical to my dads Titan that he has and though powerful it is LOUD on the road as mentioned. My wife has a '13 Explorer, and barring that you are towing mainly with it, I can't imagine that the small room difference is worth the ride quality, gas savings, etc. but that's why there are options.

I'm surprised there are so many good words for the Armada. This platform will be 10 years old this year.

Long in the toof for sure. But in a short wheelbase full size SUV, the only thing more powerful (ever) is the denali/escalade with 6.2. The armada is WAAAAAAY less expensive than those two. It's really a very capable tow vehicle in this niche.

Well, I took my wife and test drove a 2012 Armada Platinum this weekend along with a 2012 Expedition Limited. I know the body style hasn't changed on either of these vehicles in many years, but the Armada did feel like it had more of an updated interior. There are several styling aspects inside the Expo that are the exact same as my 2000 Expedition.

I thought they both drove well but the Armada definitely felt more powerful and had much better acceleration. We liked the options much better than the Expedition as well as the location of those options. It just seemed more practical in the way a lot of the functions were designed. I can't speak to the headers or front differential but I'm glad you guys bring it up.

We are leaning towards the Armada due to the styling/power/layout but the gas mileage and the header/differential issues concern me. I guess there isn't going to be a perfect vehicle out there in this price range, but we are thinking the Armada is in the lead. Granted, I've owned an Expedition for the past 14 years and I'm kinda ready for a change.

The front differential issue shouldn't be an issue with a newer truck. They changed the design / materials in 2008 or 2009 to correct the bearing issue. Not sure if cracked manifolds are still an issue on the newer models.

Change isn't necessarily a bad thing - like I said I drove my Armada for 6 years - and now I've got a Tundra. It just didn't feel right getting into a new "old" truck for me. You probably are suffering from the same psychosis getting in a brand new "old" expedition . . .

If you're looking at an Armada - the question is whether you can wait to see if it's going to be redesigned next year (if that's important to you).

Still on the hunt, and my wife has brought a new contender in the mix.

Any thoughts on the Sequoia? Seems to be a nice vehicle and I know Toyota's run and run.

None more reliable. Looks are subjective - pretty blah to me. Powerful. Interior has much different styling than Armada - that's personal preference... From what we found - quite a bit more expensive for apples to apples to the Armada.

If you can find one for the same money - definitely a worthy competitor. Very reliable but more "boring", IMO. we couldn't touch one for the same money but I know Toyota's hold their value higher than normal here in Minneapolis.

Thanks for your thoughts Jeff. I actually really liked the way the Sequoia drove and handled. The styling was actually nicer than I expected and the 3rd row was roomier than it's counter parts. The particular one we looked at didn't have all the bells and whistles that the Armada's had. But you are spot on about the price. I know they are very reliable and hold their value, but dang, for a similarly equipped model/year/mileage the Toyota was easily $7-10K more expensive. That seems hard to justify but I guess you have to look at that over the life of the vehicle as we tend to keep ours for over 10 years.

Any others you think deserve a look? We took a brief look at the Yukon (blah) and the Tahoe, but the non-folding flat 3rd row is a deal killer for my wife. The fit and finish didn't seem to do much for us easier. I know the Denali's are nice but we are looking to spend that much money.

Thanks for your thoughts Jeff. I actually really liked the way the Sequoia drove and handled. The styling was actually nicer than I expected and the 3rd row was roomier than it's counter parts. The particular one we looked at didn't have all the bells and whistles that the Armada's had. But you are spot on about the price. I know they are very reliable and hold their value, but dang, for a similarly equipped model/year/mileage the Toyota was easily $7-10K more expensive. That seems hard to justify but I guess you have to look at that over the life of the vehicle as we tend to keep ours for over 10 years.

Any others you think deserve a look? We took a brief look at the Yukon (blah) and the Tahoe, but the non-folding flat 3rd row is a deal killer for my wife. The fit and finish didn't seem to do much for us easier. I know the Denali's are nice but we are looking to spend that much money.

So I guess it's now the Armada, Expedition, or Sequoia...for now.

I think you've got the big SUV market pretty much down.. There are a few others but none that I would recommend (Durango, etc).. We've had all very similar thoughts as you guys did when we were in that space. We were bored with the Tahoes plus they are at every corner. The Sequoia was nice but was $10k more money with less options and the Expo was boring and unrealiable. My wife really liked the "look" of the Navigator and Escalade but the Navi has reliability and I didn't want to pony up the extra scratch.

When we looked at full sizes the choice ended up being pretty simple for us.. We considered the Traverse/Acadia as well - but they lack the towing capacity for a big wakeboat. If you're pulling a 20' on a single axel - that would be a good option. But if you want a full size with room I think you've got the market cornered here..

We had an X5 before the Armada and my wife liked that 10x better than the Armada and she now drives an SRX and she likes it as well. The mid size is a better daily but lacks the ability to tow a 6k rig.

We liked the Mada for what it was. I think a Denali, Armada and Sequoia are good buys. Just decide what is important and pick the best fit.

Thanks for your thoughts Jeff. I actually really liked the way the Sequoia drove and handled. The styling was actually nicer than I expected and the 3rd row was roomier than it's counter parts. The particular one we looked at didn't have all the bells and whistles that the Armada's had. But you are spot on about the price. I know they are very reliable and hold their value, but dang, for a similarly equipped model/year/mileage the Toyota was easily $7-10K more expensive. That seems hard to justify but I guess you have to look at that over the life of the vehicle as we tend to keep ours for over 10 years.

Any others you think deserve a look? We took a brief look at the Yukon (blah) and the Tahoe, but the non-folding flat 3rd row is a deal killer for my wife. The fit and finish didn't seem to do much for us easier. I know the Denali's are nice but we are looking to spend that much money.

So I guess it's now the Armada, Expedition, or Sequoia...for now.

So you have about come to the conclusion that I did while looking at these here in DFW.

The Sequoia was going to cost nearly the same as the new QX56 2011 +. If you have not checked one out and you can justify the extra money IMO it is better than the Sequoia. The hard part for us was deciding to take a Armada for less money or spend the extra and just get the QX56. If you look at a newer Q I was pricing the 2wd version not the awd.

While I like the Sequoia, the motor and the ride, quietness of it were all better than the Armada I personally did not care for the interior and it did not matter the trim level.